This invention pertains fasteners, and more particularly fasteners which attach one object to another object, with special emphasis to objects in the Automotive Industry.
In the original conventional technology of fasteners employed to securely attach one object to another, such as for example one part to another in the case of an automobile or an appliance, has utilized a nut on one of the two objects, usually welded or glued to the back of said object, and a bolt passing through a hole on the second object in a manner to be engaged by the nut, thereby securing the two objects together.
This arrangement presents many problems, among which, one of the most important is that in the case that one object is hollow, the nut has to be in place at the back of the hollow object before assembling the two objects together. If for any reason the nut is misplaced, and/or if it becomes desirable to introduce a new fastening connection between the two objects, the task of achieving such connection becomes very difficult if not impossible for all practical purposes.
The so-called xe2x80x9cquick nutsxe2x80x9d have also been used to connect two objects. In addition, vibration during the operation of a device, such as an automobile or appliance for example, containing the two objects results very often in loosening of the bolt or xe2x80x9cquick nutxe2x80x9d and in either full disassembling of the objects from each other, or in a vibration noise which is most annoying and often of unacceptable levels.
Fasteners of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,238 (Vassiliou) have been utilized to reduce considerably the potential of bolt or screw loosening and vibration. They have also eliminated the problem of having to place one member of the fastener at the back portion of the hollow object. These fasteners are placed through a slot from the front part of the hollow object. An expanding member, being usually a bolt or a screw, supports the second object by forcing the legs of the fastener (as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,238) to open or expand, thereby securing the two objects together. The legs of the fasteners are supported by a double-layered head having an upper side and a lower side joined by side bents. The fasteners of this type have greatly improved the prevailing torque, as well as the pulling force of the system. Prevailing torque is the torque required to render a screw loose. Pulling force is the pulling force applied on the screw to the point of failure, which usually occurs at the bents.
Other references representing the state of the art at this point are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,179,366 B1, 6,095,734, 5,919,019, 5,873,690, 5,759,004, 5,725,343, 5,636,891, 5,632,584, 5,336,125, 5,314,280, 5,249,900, 5,129,768, 4,610,588, 4,595,325, 4,495,380, 3,505,922, 3,486,158, 3,426,817, 2,707,013, 2,430,555, 2,376,167 and 2,181,966.
This invention pertains fasteners, and more particularly fasteners which attach one object to another object, with special emphasis to objects in the Automotive Industry. More particularly, this invention pertains a spring fastener comprising:
a head portion having an upper side, and a lower side, the upper side having an engageable hole on which a securing member can engage and pass through;
an elastic body disposed at least under the lower side of the head portion; and
a body portion extending from the lower side of the head portion at a substantially right angle with respect to the head portion, the body portion comprising
a front body portion and a back body portion, the front body portion and the back body portion being at least partially in proximity with each other;
a front opening on the front body portion and a back opening on the back body portion, each of the openings having a respective opening bottom a respective opening top, a first opening side and a second opening side;
a side body portion on each opening side;
a front snapping segment connected to the front body portion in the vicinity of the opening bottom, and having a front free engagement end; and
a back snapping segment connected to the back portion in the vicinity of the opening bottom, and having a back free engagement end.
The presence of the elastic body at least under the lower side of the head of the fastener is of extreme importance, since, unexpectedly, in addition to its excellent sealing properties allows the snapping segments to freely pass through the slot of an object, and then to snuggly contact the lower surface of said object, a necessary requirement to prevent unacceptable rattling.
The lower side of the head may have a secondary engagement section, and at least one of the side body portions may have a tertiary engagement section.
At least one of the free engagement ends may comprise a section selected from anti-sliding section, anti-opening section, and a combination thereof.
At least one snapping segment may be disposed at least partially along the respective side body portion and/or the respective opening.
Vehicles comprising the spring fasteners of this invention, connecting two parts, one of the parts comprising a slot in which the fastener is secured by the snapping segment, are also included within the scope of the instant invention. Thus, automobiles or other vehicles may be made, comprising one or more of the fasteners of the instant invention, providing substantial improvements regarding safety, performance and comfort.